Pakistan implode to gift Australia victory

Pakistan were tentative at the start of the innings with only one boundary in the first seven overs, but Ahmed Shehzad broke the shackles with two consecutive boundaries off James Faulkner. The allrounder nearly snapped up the wicket of Shehzad in his next over but was handed a reprieve by Sean Abbott, the substitute fielder.

However, Shehzad didn’t hang around for too long anyway, misreading the first ball from Xavier Doherty and being bowled for 26. Sarfraz Ahmed was looking in good touch, but then decided to test out how good Mitchell’s Starc’s throwing arm was from deep backward square. Ahmed (32) put in a dive, but found himself short of the crease.

That wicket seemed to add a spring in the step of the Australian fielders as Fawad Alam found out soon enough. The batsman shuffled to his left to sweep Doherty, but Smith, at slip, knew exactly what he was up to and scurried to his right to take the catch near the position of leg slip. The on-field umpires had a quick chat to see if the fielder had moved illegally, but eventually ruled the batsman out.

As the commentators and fans began to debate what the law said and whether it was in accordance with the Spirit of Cricket, Shafiq and Sohaib Maqsood began to rebuild the innings, with a 74-run partnership for the fourth wicket.